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Thursday, July 7, 2011

too many balls

I actually can't juggle. My brother used to juggle EVERYTHING in the house, don't know why. My favorite is when he juggled our cats...
But I have to say, I THOUGHT I was good at juggling my days. I'm pretty good at prioritizing and giving myself a realistic amount of time to do things., but in the past year or so, my scheduling has gone to... well, you know.
Seems I can't do everything. Yah, I know, you thought I was wonderwoman. well I shall put those rumors to rest. She-rah may be the princess of power but Ali is not the queen of time manipulation.
Things that need to be done in a typical day: Clean, do laundry, love my kids, spend time with God, exercise, love my husband, be there for friends, get all the shopping done, keep up my body/face, do fun things so the kids aren't bored... you get the idea...
and everything has it's price... namely, time.
And if i'm good at something, I drop something else.
For instance right now, Johnny would like us to work on our lifestyle (exercise, eating etc) so I'm trying to set up meals ahead of time, get the groceries (WHILE in budget), and have time to exercise. These also take care of things like loving my husband, and hopefully with fitness, love my kids well so that I can do things with them (I'll have energy)... seems logical, but by the time I get to exercise, it can't be WITH johnny, it has to be in the middle of the day while i ignore the kids. Then when Johnny gets home, he has to do it again so the kids are neglected again. Meanwhile, healthy meals elude me because Nyla is fussy with all dairy, eggs, beans and nuts.. pretty much anything healthy... so what do I eat for breakfast? What do I eat for snacks...?
So while I figure all that out, i don't have time to do the MASS amount of laundry building up while we change clothes to work out. I'm so tired afterward that i dont' want to make myself super pretty or even lotion or shower or anything... tired. I also have to feed an almost 3 month old every 3 hours which is NOT an option.
So here I go juggling... I'll pick up the exercise ball, and drop the Quiet time ball. I'll pick up the healthy meal ball, and drop the laundry ball. I'll pick up the kids ball and drop the house ball ... ooops there goes the food ball again... i feel more like Gallagher than a clown... first 5 rows will get wet. Smash smash.
So I consulted a friend... Amazing, other people go through this too. She said we were never meant to live like this... the simpler , smaller we live, the more time we have, but alas, this is the world we're given... with internet, tv, phones, cars, spread out society/ city.... and social expectations...
So I think the solution comes one day at a time... I was thinking of Mary and Martha... Jesus said that Mary chose better even though she ignored her duties to hang out with Jesus. That was a priority of the moment, but not a priority EVERY day. Jesus didn't come to her house every day. One day, I might be called to do laundry and have to hold off on exercise (so I watch my food closer). One day I might take my kids to the beach so I look for an opportunity to run with them, so that I can hold off on exercise... What are the Non-options: Feeding baby, spending time with God... what are the non-essentials: Tv, internet, social expectations. Once I can wake up and learn how to prioritize that particular day, maybe juggling will get easier
Maybe I can add one more ball...

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